Nintendo plans to launch on-demand game service in the future

Nintendo has plans to launch its own on-demand gaming service in the future.

According to a follow-up report to Nintendo’s financial briefing earlier this week, a Nintendo on-demand service is in the pipeline.

Although it may not be available in the near future, an on-demand service spanning multiple hardware platforms is part of Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata’s long-range plans.

The initial step to launching the on-demand service for title like Super Mario or Zelda was the introduction of the Nintendo Network ID system for platforms like the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.

Any future on-demand service would be tied to a Nintendo Network ID account and would be applicable to multiple devices like a Sony Entertainment Network account across the PS4, PS3 and PS Vita.

This would avoid any loss of content in the future and Nintendo may even reward you for your loyalty as you stick with the brand through multiple console generations.

Iwata has already said that the future iterations of Wii U and 3DS will not be separate systems, according to research analyst David Gibson tweeting at the Nintendo event.

He tweeted that future hardware models “will utilise what [has been] done on Wii U, cannot have console and portable separate systems, they are brother/sister”.

It could well be that Nintendo consoles in the future have a single architecture across all platforms, such as iOS and Android have one operating system.

However, Nintendo will not be making mobile games in the future. Iwata said the company plans to “actively” use smartphones and tablets to “make connections with customers” and attract them to Nintendo hardware.

There’s no timeframe as yet as to when the Nintendo on-demand service will function and it what capacity it will take form.

It could well be a similar service to that launched by Sony at CES 2014 in January – PlayStation Now.